Theory of creationism considered in Brunswick County

How was man created?
Many theories are out there that try and answer that question. The issue of how to teach these theories in school was brought up in Tuesday night's Brunswick County School board meeting.
For decades, national guidelines have required students be taught the theory of evolution: the idea made popular by Charles Darwin that humans derived from an ape-like ancestor that lived on earth millions of years ago. But what happened to creationism, the theory that all things were created by an infinite power that can be related back to the Bible?
Brunswick County School Board Chair, Shirley Babson, said it is time to address the issue.
"Nobody is ever supposed to tell a child who they are supposed to believe or lead them in, and when I say nobody I mean a teacher, because they may believe something different from that child. But overall, America is still a Christian country and we should not void that,” said Babson.
Now school board members are looking into ways to implement creationism into the classroom. Babson said avoiding the topic this long has created a negative outlook on teaching faith based theories in school.
“I don't want to act like we are not supposed to talk about it because it makes them think that it's something wrong,” Babson added.
Babson said the school board will have to proceed with caution and make sure to review state laws before moving forward. She hopes to find a way both evolution and creationism can co-exist
Regina Ellis, a parent said, "I think it's a good idea, if they are going to offer evolution as a theory than they should offer creationism also. Give the kids a choice."
"I think that if they make that a part of their everyday education, there is a greater understanding to it, and it just opens up a whole new world for them,” said parent Tonya Sleeman.
"I have faith. I believe in religion and God, and I just think it would be a great idea," stated Deborah Ward.
The school board is expected to talk about the issue at its next meeting on October 7, 2008. A spokesperson from the State Department of Public Instruction told WWAY the state is required to follow national standards on teaching evolution which students are tested on. School boards can act independently on certain standards but risk the possibility of legal action being taken by civil liberties groups.
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I agree with teaching creationism in science classes wholeheartedly, as it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one alternative theory regarding the origin of species.
Let us remember that there are multiple theories of how species developed. I and millions other around the world strongly believe that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster, who created all that we see and we feel around us. The overwhelming evidence resulting from centuries of systematic and methodical research that show new species are a consequence of evolutionary processes is nothing more than coincidence, put in place by Him, and the reams of scientific results proving the existence of Evolution are a result of the Flying Spaghetti Monster changing the evidence with His Noodly Appendages.
If we are to start teaching our children supernatural alternatives to long established scientific fact, then it is only fair that ALL of the alternatives given equal time. Perhaps one day we can look forward to the time when all three theories are given equal time in our science class rooms: one third of the time for Creationism, one third of the time devoted to Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third of the time for the teaching of logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.

This is ridiculous. We can't teach Creationism in public schools. What's next, we have to include the Islamic creation myth too? The Hindu one as well?
NO! We have to stick to the facts. Evolution isn't necessarily atheistic. Just ask 70% of evolutionists who believe in God. Calling evolution "of the atheists" is like saying gravity is atheistic or something. It's just a fact. Get over it.

How many theories of creationism are we putting forth? I mean, will there be equal representation of all forms of non-abiogenesis creation?
If so, we might as well include the belief that the entire universe poofed into existence by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It has all the same touches of improper logic as any other religious-based view on the origins of life.
And the whole "we don't have transitional fossils" rhetoric is ridiculous. Do you honestly believe that we've uncovered every fossil on the planet? Do you honestly believe that it's even that easy to become fossilized? Just last year we've found YET ANOTHER transitional fossil from fish to amphibian and there are a good handful of transitional fossils from reptile to mammal. I'm sure that if you did research instead of dogmatically adhering to your own stance and giving blanket, generalized statements, you might learn something.
If you want a good read on accepting evolution and keeping faith, I recommend you to google "patricia kelley evolution stance" and read the first site. Dr. Kelley is the head of the geology department and wife of the minister of Southport Presbyterian church and has no problem with accepting her religious beliefs with scientific enquiry.

as long as we test children their will pray in school.
parents teach your children theology @ home and church
DO NOT leave it to the goverment
they can't grasp basic math and ethics.
those of you that don't "belive"
you have nothing to worry about,
why are you so frightend that teaching children to think for themselves and form their own opinions is dangerous?, i guess having a open active mind is scary to you?
are you afraid that they will be brain washed?.
enlighten me, for i am lost with out your guidence

Would some creationist please come up with a scientific peer reviewed study supporting creationism and win the Noble Prize? Anyone? Now then. Seems we are left with mountains of evidence for this evolution thing...it's the best explanation yet and it seems to work for every medical and pharmaceutical institution. Every time you get a flu shot or go to the doctor, you are supporting science based on evolution. Creationism must stay out of the science class until they get some science supporting it. While we wait, I suggest Creationists should put their money where their mouth is and boycott their Doctor.

Since you say there is MOUNTAINS OF EVIDENCE..I suspect that the THEORY of evolution is really a fact...a trip to a few science journal websites doesn't show any evolution BECOMES FACT stories so I guess you might not be as smart as you think you are. When I get a flu shot it is NATURAL SELECTION I am a subject of...not evolving into some other type of animal...heck maybe one day I will sprout wings...I won't hold my breath though. See...this is the WHOLE POINT here...there is JUST AS MUCH "evidence" that creationism is correct as there is "evidence" evolution happened. However, AGAIN the Christians are the ones that should shut up and walk away from their beliefs. We both feel just as strong about how it happened, yet you are saying I am the one that should walk...kind of hypocritical, dontcha think?

7969, let me help you with your understanding of science. Evolution is as close to fact as let's say gravity. Natural Selection is a theory that explains why things evolve. I think you got it backwards. Your debate is with Natural Selection. That's fine. Debate away.
If someone says shut up and walk away from your beliefs, they are wrong and very unamerican. You are free to believe what you want in this country. Jews, Christians and Muslims all hold the book of Genesis in high regard. The issue here is whether to teach BELIEFS in a science class. Until we have true, testable verifiable facts that God did it or Buddha did it or Zeus did it, we must simply teach the science we have to date. Science is unafraid of change. Pluto was a planet now it is not. T-Rex was thought to stand upright, but now, through discovery of more evidence they believe he had to stand more bent over and behave more as a scavenger. Evidence for creationism has up to this point been simply poking holes in Evolution. Great. Simply saying we can't explain something so it must be your God who did it is not scientific. We wait for verifiable, peer reviewed proof. And while we wait, keep your faith. I'll keep mine. Science class will stay strictly science. A world religion class might help all of us understand and respect all the many belief systems of humanity. I am always in favor of more knowledge as opposed to less knowledge.

If you believe you came from a monkey and that there was a big bang that just magically made a living, breathing universe, you are PRIMITIVE...so....maybe you did come from an ape. Thank you and I love you.

As long as advocates for teaching Creation theories agree to teach the beliefs of many different cultures, then fair is fair. Time should be allocated to teach how some people believe that the earth sits on the back of a giant turtle, or that some deity created it in seven days out of mud, or that Buddha imagined it into existence. What shouldn't be happening is any confusion between religious beliefs and science.
The school system has **no business** telling non-Christian families that their kids will be taught a Christian belief in the public school system. Keep religion in church where it belongs, or in the private religious school system. If you are Christian and you would be offended at having your child taught Buddhist or Muslim doctrine in the public schools, then you have no right to tell Buddhist and Muslim families that your religion will be forced on their children.

It's a good idea to teach all creations theories - not in science, but in History. If you teach all theories, people can see the similarities in their religions and it helps (in most cases) to build tolerance.

Darwin confessed: "There are two or three million species on earth. A sufficient field one might think for observation; but it must be said today that in spite of all the evidence of trained observers, not one change of the species to another is on record." [ Life and Letters, vol. 3, p. 25 ]
There are no intermediate fossils. Fossils have shown no evolutionary traits as changing from one to another. Each fossil is of a distinct phylum. Darwin himself knew his THEORY was wrong. The fossils were created by Noah's flood. Read up on what it takes to create a fossil.

I don't know much about your magical fossils, but I do know about the fossils that have been discovered on Earth, and they do point to the change from "an ape-like ancestor to what we are today."
And in response the the person's post about Darwin, if Darwin were still alive today he would most certainly have revised his stance which you quoted. Most of the relavent discoveries of the Homo species took place long after Darwin's time.
Brief science/history lesson:
The earliest ancestor was Homo (H.) habilis, then H. erectus, then H. rudolfensis, then H. georgicus, then H. ergaster, then H. antecessor, then H. cepranensis, then H. heidelbergensis, then H. neanderthalensis, then H. rhodesiensis, then H. sapiens sapiens, then H. sapiens idaltu, and finally H. floresiensis (the latter two are no longer living, obviously) And carbon-dating has verified the ages of each of these unique species.
So, it would seem that evidence does exist to support such claims that there have been small variations in at least the skelletal make-up of humans.

Creationism, as a political movement, is perhaps a valid subject for civics class. But its claims should not be taught in school for the simple reason that they are demonstrably false.
The fact that humans are related to chimpanzees has been widely accepted since Linnaeus placed both in the genus Homo in 1758.
The historical fact of biological evolution has been well documented since the end of the 18th century, when the English geologist William Smith coined the "principle of faunal succession."
But just as gravity was known for many years before Newton developed his theory of gravity, so this historical fact of gradual change in life forms (now known by the name of "biological evolution") was an unexplained fact for some time before Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace independently developed a theory of evolution through natural selection, which explained it and allowed predictions to be made.
Although spectacularly unlikely, new evidence could appear tomorrow which would overturn the current theory of evolution through natural selection. But that wouldn't change the historical fact of biological evolution, and a new theory of evolution would be required.
Because the two are intimately connected, many people who accept both ue the term "evolution" to describe both. But for people who wish to debate the matter, let me ask: do you accept the historical fact of change in species over time? If you do, debating theories explaining it makes sense. If you do not, then the theory is irrelevant; there is no evolution to theorize about.

Your talking about TWO different things here. NATURAL SELECTION I don't think ANYONE can argue with. It can be seen in the most simplest of life forms. HOWEVER, evolving from a single celled organism to more complex organisms to apes to humans...JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN...if it happened in the past, it must happen now. Where are the mid stages of this evolution, they would HAVE to have survived in some form. SOME other stage between apes and humans would be around today....They don't exist though, do they? NOWHERE in any rock record is ANYTHING like that demonstrated. Sure there are dinosaurs with what we think were feathers, but that doesn't necessarily mean they went from a lizard to a bird.
By your thinking...we are just as much related if not MORE related to bananas than anything else. I guess you should think about that next time you eat a banana, your cousin.

Evolution is not proven fact it is a theory. My dictionary states theory is a set of ideas formulated to explain something, an opinion or supposition. Get the dictionary and look it up. It doesn't say it is a proven fact. We all have theories and opions that does not make the fact or true.
As a christian I know when I was saved. No one had to tell me it was real or teach it to me.

there are proven theories in science-they are called laws. for instance the law of gravity. Its been proven. Doesn't matter how hard you try, if you jump from a building, you will fall. But you can prove this law if you'd like.

my friend...gravity is BOTH a theory AND a law...evolution is a...THEORY...Natural Selection is a FACT and there is NO denying that...but what we are talking about in the sense of evolution is a THEORY.

My head just exsploded, now that I have taken my last breath what becomes of me know, he who answer this has all the answers, at this point it is not what I know ,but what I believe and may the good lord bless my soul. and if I see Darwin I will ask him what "He Thinks Know"

I am amazed at how many folks has responded this story. While there are many valid points discussed here, I have some simplistic thoughts. First, I think the school system should get back to the basics, and that is reading, writing and mathematics. Also, history and science are of equal importance, however, one must understand the basics before moving deeper. I have yet to read any headlines that Brunswick County Schools has reached a mastery in these most basic subjects. I know first hand that the basics went out of school a long time ago, and I feel that is why many of our students are comming out of high school unprepared for the future. While, I am not passing blame on the teachers, it is that the teachers are being told how (what) to educate the students. I will not even get started on the subject of drop out as I believe it also has SOME relationship to the basic education issues we have. Anyway, why not work on the basic education principles that we seem to have such a problem with. Lets leave this higher education stuff up to the colleges, that is their job. And one more thing, if you do not believe that we have basic education problems...Why does the Commuity College require testing to insure you are at the 10th. grade level before you can take certain BASIC level adult classes. (This is even if you have a DOCUMENTED HIGH School Diploma.) I urge the School Board to get back to basics of education. And I didnt even mention this "No Child Left Behind Act".

Since the Brunswick County Board of Education and apparently many local residents want creationism taught in the schools, let's make a deal. They can talk about the creation myth along side the facts of evolution in the public schools if they agree to this: if they are sick or injured, they cannot ask the doctor for the best,newest antibiotics to fight their infection. Why? Because new antibiotics are developed as bacteria populations EVOLVE and develop resistance to older antibiotics. Since they don't believe in evolution(and sadly don't have enough science education to probably understand this concept in the first place)they absolutely do not get to benefit from the scientific research that makes it possible.

Your FACTS are turned around....evolution isn't a FACT. I challenge you to document in this thread where ANY SCIENCE book, journal or writing shows evolution is a FACT. You can't do it as it is a THEORY. Evolution is just as much a MYTH as creationism.